Award-winning retired jockey-turned-broadcaster Richard Migliore has been increasingly frustrated by the stewards' lack of action against the New York jockey colony, he told the Thoroughbred Daily News this week. In the wake of an accident that will keep jockey Trevor McCarthy out of the saddle for up to 10 weeks, Migliore said he believes the stewards ought to be cracking down on dangerous riding.
New York stewards suspended jockey Jalon Samuel seven days for his role in that accident, which left McCarthy with both a broken pelvis and broken collar bone.
(Read more about McCarthy's injury and Samuel's suspension here.)
“It's beyond my comprehension that that is the punishment,” Migliore told TDN. “If you cause an accident you should be suspended for as long as the rider who was injured is out with his injuries. Are we going to wait until someone gets killed? The other day you could have had that scenario. Then a jockey gets busted up and a guy gets a week off. Am I crazy or is that absurd?”
The laxity of Samuel's punishment is a symptom of the larger issue, Migliore said: New York stewards are not strictly enforcing rules that will protect the entire jockey colony.
“You can watch the races on a daily basis and there are guys who change paths without clearance, and it goes beyond herding,” Migliore continued. “It's like they have a disregard for the horses and riders around them. It's very difficult for me to watch, especially when someone goes down and gets hurt. It's irresponsible on the part of the rider but they are not being held accountable. When that happens, it's human nature. The more you can get away with the rougher it's going to get. The stewards need to really crack down and lay down the law. No more nonsense.
“It shouldn't matter who it is, what day of the week it is or what kind of race it is. It has to start with the governing body. You have to be strict. Right now, they're not.”
Read more at the Thoroughbred Daily News.
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